St. Francis Xavier Cemetery
The humble beginnings of the Catholic Cemetery in Cartier.
The Jesuits of St. Anne of the Pines Roman Catholic Church in Sudbury built St. Francis Xavier Church in 1893 as a mission church. The first Mass in the newly built mission is reported to have been celebrated on September 26, 1883 with the baptism of Anthony Augustin Chrusoskie Jr. (1893-1949).
Two years earlier, Jean Joseph Obomsawan1 (1865-1947) and his wife Zoé Vitaline Marie (nee Miron) Obomsawan1 (1860-1933) welcomed a baby girl on January 14, 1892. Baby Marie Rose “Rosa” was baptized the next day at St. Anne’s of the Pines Church in Sudbury.
Sadly, two years later, on January 2, 1894, Rosa passed away. On January 9, 1894, Rosa became the first known soul to be buried in the Catholic Cemetery adjacent to St. Francis Xavier Church.
The second soul to be buried in the cemetery was that of Marie Therese (nee Nawassinon) Canard (1875-1903), who passed away on September 10, 1903 and was buried on September 12, 1903. Marie was born on December 15, 1875 and was the wife of Joseph Canard (1867-1943).
Both Rosa and Marie Therese had passed out of history for the Cemetery until the current cemetery caretakers undertook a project to update the cemetery maps, as existing maps were in poor condition and were missing information (the maps showed lots occupied with no names, and many of the lots had incomplete names).
Either the cemetery records were not transferred to St. Francis Xavier Parish when it was elevated to a full Parish in 1925, or the records and original maps were destroyed by a fire that consumed the first St. Francis Xavier Church building in 1938. No matter the reasons, it was discovered that many more souls, without grave stones or other markers identifying their location, were buried in the cemetery. Marie Therese and Rosa are two such souls who have no memorial stone nor were shown on any map or local parish record. We found their records in the archives of St. Anne’s Parish in Sudbury (Death Records and Baptismal Records).
In total, the project has identified 37 individuals for whom a record of burial in the Cartier Catholic Cemetery has been found; however, their locations in the cemetery are not known.
1Note: The name Obomsawan was found spelled in various ways in several records (baptism, internment and census). The name O’Bonsawin was also found while researching the Obomsawan family tree. For the cemetery registry, the name O’Bonsawin is used.
The centrepiece of the cemetery is the statue of our Lord’s passion on the cross with the women of Calvary looking on. The statue is a memorial monument erected by the Bourgeault family to mark the grave of Jean-Claude Bourgeault (1930-1986).
As of this writing, 331 known souls are resting in the cemetery. Of those 331 souls, 85 are not listed on any memorial monument. Of the 85 souls that are not listed on any memorial stone, there are 37 whose location in the cemetery is not known.
Last Updated on: November 17, 2025
